Spain - Floods
• Snow melt is causing the increase of river levels in north-eastern Spain, including Navarra, Aragon and Basque Country, with one fatality in Navarra, as of 26 February. The Spanish CP has issued alerts for river increase and floods and has activated the Copernicus EMS.

A total of 99 new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) were reported in the week to 22 February. Guinea reported 35 new confirmed cases. Cases continue to arise from unknown chains of transmission.

A total of 128 new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) were reported in the week to 15 February. Guinea reported 52 new confirmed cases – a decrease from the previous week, and the first week-to-week decline since January 25. Transmission remains widespread in Sierra Leone, with 74 new confirmed cases, and is most intense in the capital, Freetown, which reported 45 confirmed cases. Liberia reported 2 new confirmed cases in the 4 days to 12 February.

A Spanish court has summoned 16 police for questioning over the deaths of 15 Africans who drowned swimming towards Spain as officers fired rubber bullets, authorities said on Wednesday.

A judge in the Spanish territory of Ceuta which borders Morocco summoned the 16 members of the Civil Guard military police for questioning to assess whether they could be responsible for the migrants' deaths, judicial authorities said in a statement.

Total weekly case incidence increased for the second consecutive week, with 144 new confirmed cases reported in the week to 8 February. Guinea reported a sharp increase in incidence, with 65 new confirmed cases compared with 39 the week before. Transmission remains widespread in Sierra Leone, which reported 76 new confirmed cases, while the resurgence in cases in the western district of Port Loko continued for a second week. Liberia continues to report a low number of new confirmed cases.

The Spanish authorities’ failure to properly investigate the drowning of 14 migrants off the coast of Ceuta after the Civil Guard opened fire with large rubber bullets highlights the deplorable disregard for human life at Spain’s borders with Morocco, said Amnesty International on the anniversary of the tragedy.

“One year on from this tragic incident, victims and their families are still waiting for justice, while the investigation has been blocked and stalled,” said Irem Arf Rayfield, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Refugee and Migrants' Rights in Europe.

The Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which sit not in Spain but on the coast of Morocco, are the only two places where the European Union shares a land border with an African country. As such, these Spanish enclaves have the most heavily guarded borders in the EU to keep out African migrants.

On occasion, large groups of African citizens—most of them fleeing war and poverty—will attempt to reach Spanish soil through Ceuta or Melilla. It was such an attempt one year ago that ended in an easily preventable tragedy.

Brussels, Madrid, 5 February 2015 – The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and the Jesuit Migrant Service (JMS) Spain call for safe and legal access to Europe one year after 14 people died during a confrontation with Spanish border guards near Ceuta. The Tarajal tragedy serves as a stark reminder that Spain along with other European Union member states are a long way off respecting the human dignity of forced migrants.

 Weekly case incidence increased in all three countries for the first time this year. There were 124 new confirmed cases reported in the week to 1 February: 39 in Guinea, 5 in Liberia, and 80 in Sierra Leone.

 Continued community resistance, increasing geographical spread in Guinea and widespread transmission in Sierra Leone, and a rise in incidence show that the EVD response still faces significant challenges.

The response to the EVD epidemic has now moved to a second phase, as the focus shifts from slowing transmission to ending the epidemic. To achieve this goal as quickly as possible, efforts have moved from rapidly building infrastructure to ensuring that capacity for case finding, case management, safe burials, and community engagement is used as effectively as possible.

Case incidence continues to fall in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, with a halving time of 1.4 weeks in Guinea, 2.0 weeks Liberia, and 2.7 weeks in Sierra Leone. A combined total of 145 confirmed cases were reported from the 3 countries in the week to 18 January: 20 in Guinea, 8 in Liberia, and 117 in Sierra Leone.

Mali has been declared free of Ebola virus disease (EVD) after completing 42 days since the last case tested negative for EVD.